Keyless locking and operating systems for cell doors



Julie 1958 L. J. WHITE 2,837,182

KEYLESS LOCKING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CELL DOORS 9 Sheets-Sheet 1Original Filed April 5, 1953 INVENTORQ LOYD I. WHITE BY f5 ATTORNEYSJune 3, 1958 L. J. WHITE KEYLESS LOCKING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CELLDOORS 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 3, 1953.

INVENTOR LOYD J. WH ITE ATTORNEYS June 3, 1958 O J, w n- 2,837,182

7 KEYLESS LOCKING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CELL DOORS Original FiledApril 3, 1955 .QSheets-Sheet 3 u. Q @R N w W R k w INVENTOR LOYD J.WHITE ATTORNEYfi L. J. WHITE June 3, 1958 KEYLESS LOCKING AND OPERATINGSYSTEMS FOR CELL DOORS 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed April 5, 1955INVENTOR LOYD J. WHITE MfM ATTORNEYS June 3, 1958 KEYLESS LOCKINGAND'OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CELL DOORS 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original FiledApril 5, 1955 IN VENTOR LOYD J. WHITE ATTORNEYS L. J. WHITE 2,837,182 4KEYLEISS LOCKING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CELL DOORS June 3, 1958 9SheetsSheet 6 Original Filed April 5, 1953 n' i'VENToR -I.OYD J. WHITEQM fM ATTORNEYS L. J. WHITE 2,837,182

KEYLESS LOCKING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CELL nooas June 3, 1958 9Sheets-Sheet '7 Original Filed April 5, 1953 INVENTOR LOYD J. WHITE mrMATTORNEY-5 L. J. WHITE 2,837,182

KEYLESS LOCKING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CELL DOORS June 3, 1958 9Sheets-Sheet; 8

Original Filed April 3, 1953 INVENTOR LOYD \LWHITE BY -M rm ATTOR \IEXSL. J. WHITE June 3, 1958 KEYLESS LOCKING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CELLDOORS 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Original Filed April 3, 1953 F l G.

FIG. l7.

FIG. l6.

INVENTOR LOYD J. VII-l ITE ATTORNEYS United States Patent lice KEYLESSLOCKING AND OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CELL DOORS Loyd J. White, San Antonio,Tex., assignor to Southern Steel Company, San Antonio, Tex., acorporation of Texas Continuation of application Serial No. 346,581,April 3, 1953. This application August 12, 1957, Serial No. 678,266

6 Claims. (Cl. 189-7) This invention relates to keyless locking andoperating systems for a plurality of sliding cell doors arranged in arow or series and, among other objects, aims to provide greatly improvedand simplified mechanism employing individual motors for actuating thelocks and doors and associated manually operable means readilyaccessible for temporary use in an emergency, arising from power failureor other causes. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide a locking and operatingsystem of the type set forth, wherein the emergency operating mechanismcan be employed to actuate the keyless locks and operate all of thedoors in aseries or bank of cells in case of fire and power failure,without the necessity of first disconnecting the power actuators fromall of the doors. The idea is to enable a guard to operate, lock orunlock, all of the doors manually from a master control cabinet adjacentto the motor control switches.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a locking andoperating system for cell doors employing small, individual, reversibleelectric motors with ball bearing screw and nut actuators connected tothe doors, so that all of the doors may be operated by the emergency,manual operating means upon a power failure, even though some of thedoors may be partially opened or locked open while the other doors maybe locked closed. The idea is to provide manual, emergency operatingmeans which is readily accessible to enable a guard to;open all closedandlocked doors to permit the escape ofall prisoners in case of a fireand, thereafter, to operate-all of the doors simultaneously until thepower is restored.

A further object of the invention is to provide greatly improvedemergency, manual operating means employing a flexible cable adapted toengage and operate all of the locks and doors in a series or bank ofcells by imparting movements through the operating mechanism which isconnected to the individual motor actuators.

Other aims-and advantages of the invention will appear in the followingspecification, when considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Fig. 1-1a is a vertical elevation showing one embodimentof the inventionapplied to a plurality of sliding cell doors;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation showing a single cell door lockedin closed position:

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on theline 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical elevation, a. cell door in transit;

Fig. 5 is an elevation, similar to Fig. 2, showing the door locked open;

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are fragmentary plan views of the door operatingmechanism, showing the relative positions similar to Fig. 2, showing ofthe operating mechanism with the doors locked closed,

locked open, and in transit, respectively;

Fig.6;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on the line 10-10 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on the line 11--11 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 12 is an elevation showing a control cabinet with its doors open;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view on the line 13-13 ofFig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a simplified wiring diagram showing a motor control circuit;

Fig. 15 is a skeleton view of the emergency manu operating mechanism;

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 16-16 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 17 is a perspective view showing a notched bracket on a rear arm ofthe rocker member; and

Fig. 18 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, of the ball bearingscrew and nut actuator shown in Fig. 16.

This application is a continuation of my co-pending application, Ser.No. 346,581, filed April 3, 1953, now abandoned, for Keyless Locking andOperating System for Cell Doors.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the preferred embodiment ofthe invention is illustrated as being applied to prison cells, wherein aplurality of sliding cell doors are arranged in a row or series ofcells, as is customary in prison installations. All of the doors areadapted to be controlled or operated from a remote control cabinet, asis well known in the art. For the sake of simplicity, two such celldoors 10 in a row or series of cells 11, are shown in Fig. 1la, and theyare adapted to be operated by controls arranged in a control cabinet 12at one end of the row or series of cells. Each door is shown as beingsuspended from the usual door carriage 13 having rollers 14 guided on atrack 15 within a. cover box 16 extending longitudinally above the rowof cells. A hanger plate 17 is-connected to the door and extends througha longitudinal slot in the bottom wall of the cover box to permit thedoor to slide back and forth from open to closed position. This hangeris shown as being in the form of a T-shaped plate with an upstandingprojection 18 welded or otherwise secured to the frame of the doorcarriage.

As shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5, each door is adapted to be locked inopen or closed position by a vertical locking bolt or bar 19 arranged ina casing or housing at the 'back jamb of each door. The locking barcooperates with laterally spaced notches 20 formed in an upstandinglocking flange 21 carried by the bottom frame of the door to lock thedoor at its bottom. The locking bar is also shown as having a squareportion at its upper end which cooperates with laterally spaced notches20 formed in a horizontal locking flange 21' forming part of the upperframe member of the door to lock the door at its top. The locking bar isprovided with a notch 22 positioned to straddle the horizontal lockingflange 21' of the upper frame 23 of the door when the bar is raised tounlocking position, this permits the door to be moved from one positionto the other (see Figs. 9, 10 and 11). The construction and arrangementis such that, when the door is fully closed or fully opened, thevertical locking bar will'be lowered into one or the other of thenotches 20 in the bottom door frame and lock the door at the top andbottom in its closed or opened position. The construction of the doors,carriages and locks is preferably the same as that shown in the patentto Hart et al., No. 2,262,674.

In accordance with this invention, the locking bars and doors areadapted to be operated by individual motors and emergency operatingmechanism, both operatively connected to the respective door carriages.For this purpose, a lock and door operating member, shown as PatentedJune 3, 1958 being in the'form of a'ro'cker member 24, is pivotallyconnected to the upper endof the projection 18 ofthe box behind therocker channel 24 and h'as a forwardly projecting pivot pin 30 carryinga roller 31 engaged in and guided by. the channel (Fig. 9), so that when-the channel is rocked it will raise or lower the locking bar. Thedepending' plates or rocker arms 26 and 27 are U-shaped and straddle thehanger extension 18 and the carriage frame, all as'shown in' theaforesaid patent to Hart et al.

Referring to Fig. 2, which shows the door in itsclosed and locked:position, it is necessary, first, to raise thelocking bar 19 to unlockthe door and, then, to impart propelling movement to the door. For thispurpose,- the channel-shaped rocker 24 is first raised to a horizontalposition and confined to move horizontally toward door opening positionby spaced, horizontally aligned rollers 32, 33 and 34 mounted on pivotpins connectedto the back wall of the cover box and adapted to engagethe channel. In the position shown in Fig. 2, the left hand roller 34 iscoaxial with the pivot pin 25-, so that the rocker is free to swingcounterclockwise and raise the locking bar. The roller 33 is above theslot 28 in the upper flange at the right hand end' of'the rocker channeland, whenthe rocker is swung to itshorizontal and is confined in thechannel against its bottom flange.

Thus, the rocker will remain in its horizontal position with the guideroller 33' immediately behind the roller 31 on the upper end ofthe'locking bar 19. The'roller' is guided into thenotch 28 by means ofan upstanding lug 35 on the upper flange of the rocker channel. and asimilar lug'is' provided at the opposite end ofthe'rocker channeladjacent to the slot 29'for the same purpose. The rocker is confined tomove horizontally to' the right when it is swung into its horizontalpositionby the two rollers 33 and 34, thus imparting opening movement tothe door. As the door moves toward its fully open position, the-righthand open end of the rocker channel member 24 engages the right handroller 32, as will be apparent by reference to Fig. 4, and the rockerchannel member 24 will be confined to travel horizontally and will beguided on all of the rollers 32, 33 and 34. When the door is fullyopened or reaches the position shown in Fig. 5, the middle guide roller33 will register with the slot 29 in the left hand end of the channelmember; while the right hand roller 32 will be coaxial with the pivotpin 25, in which position the rocker arm is free to swingcounterclockwise and positively force the This operation is clearlyexplained in the aforesaid patent to Hart et a1.

in accordance with this invention, each of the doors isoperated by anindividual, reversible electric motor 36 mounted on the bottom wall ofthe cover box and having an armature shaft coupled by a universalcoupling men1- ber 37 to ascrew shaft 38 mounted inself-aligningantifriction bearings 39 carried by upstanding brackets 40and 41, likewise secured to the bottom wall of the cover box. The screw38 carries a ball-bearing nut 42 of a Well known type, which may besimilar to the one shown in- U. S. Patent No. 2,380,662. The nut isshown,.in

Fig. 16, as having opposed bosses 43 to which a yoke member 44 ispivotally connected by pivot bolts 45.- The yoke is loosely andpivotally connected by a bolt 46 to the front plate or arm 26 whichoperates the rocker 24. The loose connection permits limited rockingmovement of the arm 26 without binding. The arrangement is such that themotor 36 operates the screw to impart actuating movement through theballbearing' nut 42"t'o the rocker member to operate the lock and propelthe door either from its locked closed position toits locked openposition, or from its locked open position to its locked closedposition. The ball bearing nut on thesc'rew actuator enables the door tobe moved independently of the'motor, so that the nut will rotate thescrew and the armature of the motor. In other words, the door can beoperated manually without disconnecting the screw actuator from therocker member.

Referring to the wiring diagram shown in Fig. 14, each motor 36 is shownasbeing of: the capacitor ty'pe, wherein a condenser C is connectedacross the fieldwindings, so that the motor will not be stalled duetolthestarting torque required to move the doors. Each of -the of theswitch lever, the current is cut off and,- in the lower position, themotor is reversed tounlock the-"door and move it to its closed positionand lock it closed.

Limit switches 49 of the spring plunger type' arearranged in the motorcircuit to stop the motor when: the door reaches the limit of itsmovement either in s ew or closed position. For that purpose the yoke4'4 is shown, in Fig. 16, as carrying a switch actuating arm-- 50adapted to engage theplungers of'the limit'switches'". 49. The limitswitches are shown as being mounted on:

brackets 51 suitably secured to the bottom wall-iofthe cover box.

and stop'it immediately when the door reachesfully open or fully closedand locked position. The motor has a very small armature and will stopquickly It will be understood that, when the door: is locked open, theright hand limit switch 49'will be held 'in' open position against thetension of its spring; while the' Ieft' hand limit switch 49'remains inits circuit closing position, as shown in Fig. 14. Thus, when the toggleswitch 47 is moved to its lower position, it will close the circuitthrough the left hand limit switch 49 and operate the motor to unlockthe door and move it to its closedand locked position. As soon as thedoor is again unlocked and moved away from its closed position towardopen position, the left hand limit switch49 will close automatically andremain closed until the door is again op erated and moved to its lockedclosed position, as exheavy starting load upon the circuit to themotors. He"

can leave the switch arms in their operative positions to indicate thecondition of all the doors, when they: are normally operated by theelectric motors. For example;

ifall of the switch levers are left intheir'upper'positions, as'rshownin Figt 13, the guard willknow that all'ofthe In the upper position,-

The arrangement is such that" the limit" switches will automaticallybreak the circuits 'to thefimo'tor shall be able to unlock and open alllocked doors to permit the escape of prisoners who are locked in theircells. This is especially desirable in case of fire. It is alsodesirable that the guard shall be able to operate all of the doorssimultaneously when the power fails for any reason. For this purpose,the rocker members connected to the door hangers are likewise arrangedto be operated by a master mechanical means arranged to be actuated atthe control cabinet 12. An endless wire cable 52 is shown as extendingbehind the door carriages and the back plates 27 which are connected tothe rockers, and it is trained over an adjustable pulley or sheave 53located at the rear end of the cover box. It has a sprocket chain insertat the forward end which engages a sprocket 54 (Fig. Adjustable stopmembers 55 and 56 are secured by set screws to the bottom run of thecable which passes through notched brackets 57, welded or otherwisesecured to the back plates or rocker arms 27, as clearly shown in Fig.17. The upper arm of the cable is shown as being guided by groovedrollers 53 carried by brackets 59 secured to the back wall of the coverbox. The endless cable is adapted to be actuated by a hand crank 60arranged in a bottom compartment 61 of the control cabinet 12. The crankis shown as being connected through beveled gears 62 to operate asprocket 63 carrying a sprocket chain 64 trained over a sprocket 65 onthe horizontal shaft which carries the cable operating sprocket 54.

The spaced stop members 55 and 56 are so arranged I that they willactuate the rocker members 24 on all of the doors in unison by engagingthe notched brackets 57 on the back plates or arms '27 of the rockermembers. In the position shown in Fig. 15, it will be noted that thebottom run of the cable is ready to be moved toward the right with theleft hand stop member 55 engaging the notched bracket 57, to unlock andmove the door to its open position. To unlock the opened door and moveit toward its closed position, it is only necessary to turn the crank 60until the right hand stop member 56 engages the bracket 57 on the backplate 27 to reverse the movements and return the door to its lockedclosed position.

The control cabinet is shown as having separate hinged doors 66 and 67which are adapted to be locked closed with a key or keys (not shown)carried by a guard. The upper door is shown as having a lower flange 68which overlaps the upper edge portion of the lower door 67, so that themanual operating mechanism is not accessible until after the upper dooris opened and it is determined that there is a power failure. Then theguard may open the lower door 67 and have full access to the hand crank60.

In the practical application of the improved system, the electric motorsare quite small, A horse power or less, and their speed is such as toopen or close the doors in about five seconds. They impose a pressure ofonly seventy-five to one hundred pounds on the doors, so that they willnot seriously injure a prisoner who tries to block them. The system canbe applied to a group of cell doors which are not in alignment.Moreover, the control switches for several rows or series of prisoncells may be located in a single control cabinet and, if desired, aduplicate set of the switches may be provided in a wardens ofiice, wherethey will be readily accessible in case of a mutiny.

Obviously, the invention is not restricted tothe particular embodimentthereof herein shown and described but is capable of many changes withinthe scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A system for keyless and remote control operation of a series ofsliding cell doors to automatically and selectively lock and unlock andimpart closing and opening movement to each cell door individually,comprising a unitary power operated mechanism for each door including ascrew shaft positioned above and extending across the door opening; aball bearing nut mounted on said shaft for linear travel thereon whensaid shaft is rotated; a reversible electric motor directly coupled tosaid shaft for rotating it in either direction; a remote control switchfor the motor; a vertically movable locking bar for locking the door inits open and closed positions; a rocker member pivotally mounted on thedoor carriage for rocking movement about a horizontal axis perpendicularto the plane of the door, said rocker member being slidably connected tooperate said locking bar and having a depending operating arm fixedlyconnected thereto; an actuating member pivotally connected to said 'nutfor oscillation about a vertical axis and to said operating arm forloose oscillation about a horizontal axis; and limit switches atopposite ends of the door opening connected to stop said motor after thedoor has reached either one of its locked positions, the constructionand arrangement being such that when said remote control switch isoperated to cause said motor to rotate said screw shaft in one directionsaid nut will be caused to travel longitudinally along said screw shaftand actuate said rocker member about its pivot to unlock said lockingbar, said door will be propelled from its locked open position to itslocked closed position and said rocker member will be actuated about itspivot to lock said locking bar, and when said remote control switch isoperated to cause said motor to rotate said screw shaft in the oppositedirection said nut will be caused to travel longitudinally along saidscrew shaft and actuate said rocker member about its pivot to unlocksaid locking bar, said door will be propelled from its locked closedposition to its locked open position and said rocker member will beactuated about its pivot to lock 'said locking bar.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein remotely controlledemergency manually operable means for simultaneously and collectivelyoperating all of the doors are provided, said manually operable meansincluding an endless flexible cable carrying stop members positioned toengage the rocker members on the doors and impart operating movement tothe locking bars and doors, the ball bearing nuts permitting manualoperation without disconnecting the motors.

3. A system for keyless and remote control operation of a series ofsliding cell doors to automatically and selectively lock and unlock andimpart closing and opening movement to each cell door individually,comprising a unitary power operated mechanism for each door including ascrew shaft positioned above and extending across the door opening; aball bearing nut mounted on said shaft for linear travel thereon whensaid shaft is rotated; a reversible electric motor directly coupled tosaid shaft for rotating it in either direction; a remote control switchfor the motor; a vertically movable locking bar for locking the door inits open and closed positions; a rocker member pivotally mounted on thedoor carriage for rocking movement about a horizontal axis perpendicularto the plane of the door, said rocker member being slidably connectedto'operate said locking bar and having a depending operating arm fixedlyconnected thereto; an actuating member pivotally connected to said nutand to said arm; and limit switches at opposite ends of the door openingconnected to stop said motor after the door has reached either one ofits locked positions, the construction and arrangement being such thatwhen said remote controlswitchis operated-to cause said motor to rotatesaid screw shaft inone-direction said nut will be caused to travellongitudinally along said screw shaft and actuate said rocker memberabout its pivot to unlock said locking bar, said door will be propelledfrom its locked open position to its locked closed position and saidrocker member will be actuated about its pivot to lock said locking bar,and when said remote control switch is operated to cause said motor torotate the screw shaft in the opposite direction said nut will be causedto travel longitudinally along said screw shaft and actuate said rockermember about its pivot to unlock said locking bar, said door will bepropelled from its locked closed position to its locked open positionand said rocker member will be actuated about its pivot to locktsaidlocking bar.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein the remote controlswitches for the motor are located at a master control station atone endof the series of cells; and wherein remotely controlled emergencymanually operable means for simultaneously and collectively operatingall of the doors are provided, said manually operable means including,an endless flexible cable carrying stop members positioned to engage therocker members on the doors and impart operating movement to the lock- 1ing bar and doors; and a hand crank for operating said endless flexiblecable located at said master control station adjacent said remotecontrol switches, the ball bearing nuts permitting manual operationWithout disconnecting the motors.

5. In a keyless system for locking and operating a series of slidingcell doors to automatically and selectively lock and unlock and impartclosing and opening movement to each cell door individually, of the typewherein each cell door is provided with a vertically movable locking barpositioned to engage the door and lock it in its opened and closedpositions and an operating member mounted on top of the door formovement there'- with and slidably engaging its locking bar for movingthe locking bar to its unlocked and locked positions, the improvementwhich comprises a unitary power operated mechanism for each doorincluding a screw shaft positioned above and extending across the dooropening,-a ball bearing nut mounted on said screw shaft for lineartravel thereon when said shaft is rotated; a reversible electric motorcoupled to said shaft for rotating it in either direction; a remote.control switch for the motor andan actuating memberv mounted on saidball bearing nut and connected to the operating member mounted on thecell door for imparting movement thereto; and limit switches at oppositeends of the door opening connected to stop said inotor after the doorhas reached either one of its locked position, the construction andarrangement being such that when said remote control switch is operatedto cause said motor to rotate said screw shaft in one direction said nutwill be caused to travel longitudinally along said screw shaft andactuate said operating member to unlock said locking bar, said door willbe propelled from its locked open position to its locked closed positionand said operating member will lock said locking bar, and when saidremote control switch is operated to cause said motor to. rotate saidscrew shaft in the opposite direction said nut will be caused to travellongitudinally along said screw shaft and actuate said operating memherto unlock said locking bar, said door will be propelled from its lockedclosed position to its locked open position and said operating memberwill lock said locking bar.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein the remote controlswitches for the motor are located at a master control station at oneend of the series of cells; and wherein remotely controlled emergencymanually operable means for simultaneously and collectively operatingall of the-doors are provided, said manually operable means including anendless flexible cable carrying stop members positioned to engage therocker members on the doors and impart'operating movement to the lockingbar and doors; and a hand crank for operating said endless flexiblecable located at said master control station adjacent said remotecontrol switches, the ball hearing nuts permittingmanual operationwithout disconnecting the motors.

References Cited in: the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS635,602 Shoenfeld Oct. 24, 1899 2,262,674 Hart et al Nov. 11, 19412,444,886 Vickers July 6, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 104,079 Australia May 25,1938

